Coloured Deruta Embroidery

Let's have a little colour today. While in Assisi last year I photographed this sign outside a shop, thinking excitedly that it was a store selling Deruta Embroideries (which is what it says) but alas, inside there were touristy things and books – the shop clerk said that during the 1950s it was the shop I was hoping for.


I do know however, that Coloured Deruta Embroideries do exist and that they are still being stitched today.

As is the case in many instances, embroideries were initiated to match tablewear or were inspired by ceramic tiles. Deruta is especially known for its outstanding ceramics worldwide. The colours fascinate me and I find myself drawn to ochre, terracotta, green and blue - if you looked at my collection of threads you'd find that anytime I had to buy some kind of thread just to bring it home without any special project in mind, these are the colours I chose.

Coloured Deruta Embroideries are executed on medium weight Umbrian linen with Embroidery Floss.

This work was featured on an Italian telephone card for Telecom Italia in 2009:


There is a 4 minute video on YouTube of the Fili d'Amore presentation ceremony in which you can see some of the embroideries and fuserole which were also featured on telephone cards. (Make sure you watch it in 720pHD!)

Embroidery in Deruta dates back to the 13th century but in the early 20th century it experienced a revival with the national movement of "Feminine Industries" which popped up all over the country promoting special styles and stitches from each region of Italy. Embroidery schools and workshops were started in Deruta by nuns and a pair of local sisters, Aurelia and Luce Corcioni which experienced worldwide success in the selling of their beautiful needlework. Local ceramic beads called fuserole were incorporated into the tassels on their cushions, curtains and tablemats.

These are some of my fuserole, purchased at both Italia Invita Forums in 2007 and 2009:


Fuserole started out as the weights to balance spindles when spinning thread and date back to Etruscan times. Between the 14th and 17th centuries they were glazed, coloured and decorated with sayings and good wishes, names or virtuous designs and were given as love tokens. This one is a reproduction of a 15th century fuseruola:


In 2004 the Accademia Punto Deruta was founded to preserve and promote Coloured Deruta Embroidery and the other two styles of Deruta needlework: Antique Deruta Embroidery and Catherine de' Medici Embroidery.

Modern Coloured Deruta Embroidery is made using Long and Short Stitch and Stem Stitch and sometimes Rush Stitch as well (which is similar to Roumanian Couching).

From the Italia Invita 2009 Forum book:


There are some free patterns to download at the Italian Embroidery magazine Ricamo Italiano's website, all text is in Italian: here and here.

Different Styles of Reticello - Part Two

As mentioned in Part One of this series, Elisa Ricci has an entire chapter dedicated to Reticello in her book Old Italian Lace (1913) which can be downloaded in pdf format from the Online Digital Documents Archive.

Here is a 16th century shirt from the above-mentioned book with Reticello worked into the sleeves and body. Notice how the designs work together to flow along inside the zig-zagged open parts:


And here in the Collezioni Comunali d'Arte museum in Bologna the design works its way across window after window...


In the past there were works with bigger or smaller areas of Reticello and the same goes for the works of today. While you might think that no one takes the time to work elaborate embroideries of Reticello anymore, there are still embroiderers in Italy who dedicate lots of time to this art.

Laura Marzorati, born in Milan but who now lives in Treviso works some beautiful and intricate designs in her Reticello work. She has learned and continues to learn from some of the best maestras in Italy. Every year she takes courses in different techniques of needlework to keep herself "updated". In 2005 she started teaching needlework at the University of the Third Age in Treviso and in 2008 she founded the non-profit needlework association Treviso Ricama where she teaches a long list of embroidery and needle lace techniques.

In 2007 she published her first book called: Guida al Ricamo Reticello e Merletto Veneziano.


While the text is in Italian, the step-by-step photography is totally amazing! I'm not sure if she put each piece into a scanner or had a super-macro lens but there have never been closer, clearer photos before for this kind of work!


Her second book published in 2009: Guida al ricamo Reticello Liberty has even clearer photos (I didn't think it was possible!) and Italian text. Both books cover the basics and then move on to the filling stitches so you're safe to purchase either one to start. These books can be purchased from Tombolo Disegni. Click on "Libri/Books", then "Libri Ricamo", then "Ricamo Italiani". Send an email request.

In the next installment we'll talk about human figures in Reticello and some of the most intricate modern Reticello needlework being made today.

Thanks to Elisabetta for the photos from Bologna!

Different Styles of Reticello - Part One

Different Styles of Reticello - Part Three

Different Styles of Reticello - Part Four

Trapunto

Guess what arrived in the mail today?


The catalogue from the Guicciardini Trapunto Quilt exhibit at the Palazzo Davanzati in Florence! A very kind friend picked one up for me when she went to the exhibit. It is soft-cover and about 135 pages, the text is in Italian.

Every detail of the restoration of this amazing piece has been documented. The catalogue includes some history of the quilt, the story that is depicted on it and the difficulties encountered in making a copy of it and it's other part which is preserved at the Victoria & Albert Museum in London. There is much more contained in this one volume than I've been able to piece together over a decade!

A detail of the quilt before the restoration...


...and after!


I have been unable to determine if a book was released after the copy of the London part was finished in 2007 by the House of Boutis. If you know of anything, please leave me a comment below!

These two quilts have inspired many embroiderers over time.

As mentioned in a previous post, the Club del Punto in Croce sponsored the International Exhibition of Textile Art inspired by the Guicciardini Quilt in Florence in October of 2006.

When I attended the 2007 Italia Invita Lace and Embroidery Forum, the booth of the association Laboratorio Tessile di Alice had an all Trapunto display with some pieces inspired by the Guicciardini Quilts.

The Italian needlework magazine Ricamo Italiano has some free patterns for download also inspired by the designs found on the Guicciardini Quilts.


Rosalba Pepi of the association Laboratorio Tessile di Alice put out a book called: Trapunto Fiorentino in 2008. The text is in Italian but it is packed with large colour photographs of step-by-step instructions and various projects of increasing difficulty from Christmas Tree ornaments to curtains! You can get this book from Tombolo Disegni. Click on "Libri/Books", then "Ricamo Boutis e Trapunto". Send an email request to order.

Different Styles of Reticello - Part One

I recently took some books to show a few friends the different styles of Reticello. I find this technique to be one of the most beautiful of Italian needlework so of course, I have all the books I can lay my hands on about it.

This is a technique that I'm sure we will revisit many times here. Elisa Ricci has an entire chapter dedicated to it in her book Old Italian Lace (1913) which can be downloaded in pdf format from the Online Digital Documents Archive. In that book there are many incredible works pictured, some very old. This painting by Jean Clouet circa 1555 shows that Reticello was already perfected and well known outside of Italy (this is a portrait of the Duchess Claude of Lorraine, daughter of Catherine de' Medici) by the mid 16th century:


This unfinished 16th century piece of Reticello shows the various stages of its working:


Here is a beautiful piece from the Collezioni Comunali d'Arte museum in Bologna:


Like all needlework, Reticello has evolved over time. Today, with less and less time dedicated to embroidery, the designs have become simpler and less time-consuming but no less beautiful.

I want to show you two books by Giuliana Buonpadre, an Italian lady from Verona who has a small shop in Via S. Egidio in which she teaches needlework. On her website you can browse her books, clicking on the cover of Vol. 3, Il Reticello will get you a look at what a typical page looks like. Her books come in three languages, Italian, French and English and I like them a lot because she shows you clearly what to do and what the work will look like once it's done.

She does some amazing work. In her second book on Reticello (Volume 5), she has taken it to a new level. She has added colour to what is traditionally a whitework technique. This is a scan of the cover art on the book Fior di Reticello:


Not only has she added colour, she continues the design outside of the grid. I love the style of these designs even if I'm usually a traditionalist. There are many exquisite coloured pieces in this book, but also lots of traditional white ones as well. I believe that you can get Giuliana Buonpadre's books from the Drawn Thread in the US.

Next time we'll talk about books on a more traditional style of Reticello.

Different Styles of Reticello - Part Two

Different Styles of Reticello - Part Three

Different Styles of Reticello - Part Four

Sansepolcro Lace Biennial Workshop

After yesterday's post about the XIV Sansepolcro International Lace Biennial I received an email from an Italian lady named Silvia in Turin. This lady attended the last Biennial in 2008 and took the workshop on Aemilia Ars needle lace taught by Carla D'Alessandro of the Association "I merletti di Antonilla Cantelli" from Bologna (for my Italian readers, there's a little article in Italian here).

Silvia tells me that the course was great and afterwards she went to view the Biennial exhibits which were located at several different locations around town. She says the town of Sansepolcro is small and very easy to get around in and that it is beautiful!

She stopped outside the Lace School to take a picture of the bronze statue dedicated to women and tradition situated just outside the doors:


Silvia also sent me photos of the projects that she did at the workshop:





Silvia loves Aemilia Ars needle lace and has taken other workshops, one of which was the workshop taught by the same Association at the Italia Invita Forum in Parma in 2009:


Thank you very much Silvia for the info and the great photos of your beautiful work!

The Association "I merletti di Antonilla Cantelli" has an excellent didactic book on flowers made in Aemilia Ars needle lace. The text is in Italian but the diagrams are very clear. You can get it from Elena at Italian Needlecrafts. Also check out the book dedicated to the Aemilia Ars master Antonilla Cantelli full of excellent photos and designs of her incredible works! (Text in Italian)

Sansepolcro and the XIV International Lace Biennial

The comune of Sansepolcro is located in the province of Arezzo in Tuscany. For those with little geographical knowledge of Italy, it is near Florence.

Around the turn of the 20th century two sisters from Sansepolcro started a lace school. Adele and Ginna Marcelli, the daughters of a local elementary school teacher, developed a bobbin lace technique they had learned and developed it in order to personalize it to their local area and give it a decidedly Italian flavour.

You can read the history of this development here, there are also some photos of Sansepolcro Lace.

The Italian needlework scholar Elisa Ricci mentions the sisters and their lace in the introduction of her book Antiche Trine Italiane - Trine a Fuselli (1911) and there is evidence that Elisa Ricci herself believed strongly in the beauty and expertise of this lace and that she contributed quietly to its success by supplying designs and spreading the news of its development. In the preface of the 2007 reprint of this volume, Bianca Rosa Bellomo has inserted a photo of an amazing work of Sansepolcro Lace from an article written by Elisa Ricci entitled: Le trine di Sansepolcro which appeared in the Italian magazine La Casa Bella in 1929.

Sansepolcro Lace from the Italia Invita 2005 Forum book:


In 1983 the Sansepolcro Cultural Centre developed local exhibitions to show local artisan crafts and in 1984 started the Sansepolcro Lace Biennial which became an international event in 1990.

This event is considered one of the most important lace events and hosts an international competition for lace works which is open to all kinds of lace, be it needle lace, bobbin lace, crochet lace, etc. For a full list of competition guidelines go here. It is too late to enter this time but you could get a great head start on a piece for the next show in 2012!

The Sansepolcro International Lace Biennial also hosts an exhibition which is divided into five categories: European Countries, Non European Countries, Italian Regions, the International Competition and the Lace School of Sansepolcro.

Each event has a theme and this year the XIV Sansepolcro International Lace Biennial, which will be held between September 11th and November 15, 2010, is dedicated to Botticelli - celebrating the 500th anniversary of his death in 1510 - the theme is: the beauty of the body and the beauty of the soul.

There will also be workshops: "for theoretic-practical knowledge of the techniques of lacemaking and of their old and new workmanship, with didactic intervention by italian and foreign teachers."

If you happen to be in Tuscany in the fall, you might like to take in this incredible event!


If you can find it at a used book dealer, there is a book on Sansepolcro Lace called: Ginna Marcelli e Il Merletto Di San Sepolcro by Anita Chersi Casini, 1996. (Text in Italian)

Clicking here will take you to a page in Italian on Sansepolcro Lace, click on the small photo at the beginning of the article to get a closer look at a tablecloth called: The Warriors - the lace reproduces a Roman frieze preserved in the Civic Museum of Sansepolcro. It is a work of the Marcelli sisters' school. There is also a picture of it here.

Take a look at photos from a workshop taken at the XIII Biennial in 2008!

Frette

I have an old E. Frette & Co. catalogue. I don't know how old it is, but in it there are designs for monograms and ciphers with prices in Lire. I suppose when ordering your household linens from the firm, you picked out the designs you wanted embroidered on you sheets, towels, etc. It is a fabulous source of inspiration and a little peek at the price of embroidery in what I figure to be the early 20th century. I will place a couple of scans of designs throughout the following history of this Italian company which celebrates it's 150th anniversary this year. The prices are preceded by a capital letter "L" and then the price in bold. I wish I knew the date of the catalogue so I could guess at price conversion to today's prices but it's difficult to say - however it seems very little!

In December of 1860 a household linen manufacturer and distributor by the name of Frette, Payre & Chaboud was founded in Grenoble, France situated at the foot of the French Alps.

In 1865 two manufacturing plants were opened in Concorezza, Italy near Monza which produced luxury linens on Jacquard looms. You can see some early 20th centuries photos at the Concorezza Archive website. (clicking on the photos will get more information and bigger photos.) These locations are still active today.

In 1878 the first retail store opened in Milan. It is still there today, located across the street from the Poldi Pezzoli Museum.


Between 1879 and 1881 the firm underwent some restructuring and was renamed E. Frette & Co. becoming also at this time the suppliers of fine linens to the Italian Royal Family and many other noble families, embassies and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to whom they still supply today. New looms called Vicenzi looms were developed which enabled the firm to weave complex Jacquard linen Damask fabric. In 1881 the company took a gold medal at the National Exhibition in Milan for a Jacquard linen picture called La Vega. The work was based on a painting of the first ship to circumnavigate Europe and reach the arctic by Francesco Lietti.

In 1886 the firm started to market outside of Italy and started catalogue sales of their products and 1899 saw the company begin to supply the worlds luxury hotels with linens starting with the Royal Danieli in Venice.

They signed contracts to supply the world's luxury oceanliners in 1911 which included outfitting the dining room on the Titanic. Their linens are still used today on the Orient Express.

After the First World War, E. Frette & Co. was one of only three companies which remained active in Concorezza out of 13 before the war.

In 1926 they started the trend of putting art on their catalogue covers.


They opened stores in London and New York in the 1970s and the late 1980s saw a new line of linens for luxury yachts.

Expansion into Asia started in the late 1990s. The descendants of the company founders ceded ownership to an Italian fashion group and it becomes known as Frette. Into the 2000s the company expanded into silk, brocade, cashmere and fur bedding and opened an online store for the US market. Today it is owned by JHP a San Francisco based company.


2010 marks the 150th anniversary of the company. They held an exhibit in Milan this year until May 2nd which then moved to Singapore for the 2010 Expo. You can see some photos of the exhibit on their Facebook Group.